Bespoke - truly one of the most beautiful words in the English language. While conjuring visions of long ago, is really quite modern in its simple focus on delivering a unique experience for an individual customer. Implicit in this word is a generous spirit of serving - serving a customer, developing a connection and nurturing a relationship that delivers value for all involved. This is 21st-century retailing and brand building.

For the past 20 years, retailers have been delivering their brands and product to a broadly targeted group of customers and driving loyalty by tapping into the human desire to belong to something bigger than yourself. Ralph Lauren was the master, inviting customers into his world. Today, customers want brands to enhance their world, the world they have created that's perfect for them. This is a seismic shift for a retail company fundamentally changing the way they run their business. Customer behavior must be gathered and understood at every touch-point, in every channel, seamlessly. It's a strategic shift that of course impacts the customer experience and brand strategy, but also affects product offering, systems, processes, organization, and roles. Sounds daunting, right? Not so. It may be a bit of a process, but to create a clear vision as to what your customer expects from you will help evolve priorities, and luckily, there are lots of technologies so you can go fast.

It's transformational - an exciting time. A time where there will be a changing of the guard with new leaders emerging. A new era where the customer always wins by focusing on the "bespoke" experience and curation. It's an era of adding value to the experience. It's an era in which I'm happy to be participating . . .